Clearview council briefs: Stayner water supply tapped out
The Township of Clearview has notified all landowners within the Stayner settlement area that the municipal drinking water supply has reached its current available capacity. On Friday, March 10 the remaining available water units were allocated through issuance of new Building Permits.
Chief Administrative Officer John Ferguson says capacity has been reserved for 600 units previously approved but not yet built. However, until a new well, supply lines and water treatment capacity are in place, a further 3,150 units planned for Stayner under the county’s approved development plan cannot proceed.
Ferguson says the township has been working for some time with the development community on a solution. All environmental and engineering studies have been completed. The only thing missing is the funding. Until infrastructure improvements are made, the township will be unable to approve infill development.
Bridge to be named after former councillor
Former Clearview Councillor Ed Christie will be honoured with the naming of a bridge over the Batteaux Creek. Christie is remembered for his contributions to trail development on behalf of the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) and the Blue Mountain Snow Drifters.
Mayor Doug Measures says Christie had been working for many months prior to his death on creation of a trail bridge on the 30/31 Sideroad. He worked closely with OFSC and township staff to secure approvals from landowners and the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority.
Township staff will work with the OFSC on plaques to be erected at either end of the bridge recognizing Christie.
A resident of Nottawa, Ed Christie was elected to Clearview Council in 2018 and died in November 2019 from Acute Leukemia. He was 79.
Lot severances approved
Clearview Township Committee of Adjustment has granted preliminary approval for severance of two new residential lots on County Rd 42 in Avening. The owners of 3399 County Rd 42 just north of the Avening Community Centre have applied for permission to create two lots, each approximately 0.21 hectares or 0.5 acres in size.
At the Committee’s March 8 meeting, Planning and Development Technician Christine Taggart noted that before the approval is finally granted the applicant(s) must comply with several conditions including an archeological assessment requested by the Simcoe County Planning Department, and a hydrogeological assessment to confirm there is sufficient quality and quantity of water to service the new lots without adversely affecting neighbouring properties. In addition, the road allowance will be widened to 18 metres from the centre line. The applicant will be required to bear all survey, engineering and legal costs and pay a minimum development fee of $7,073 per newly created lot to the township.
Each of the two new lots will have frontage of 30 metres on County Rd 42. The retained lot with existing dwelling and barn will have just over 101 metres of frontage with area of 21 hectares or 52 acres. This will require a minor variance as the retained lot will be smaller than the minimum required lot size in an agricultural zone.
Agriculture fuels local economy
Agriculture is big business in Simcoe County, responsible for more than $1.1 billion in economic activity annually according to Dave Richie of the Simcoe County Federation of Agriculture. In a presentation to Clearview Township Council this week, Richie said area farmers have more than half a million acres under their stewardship, and that one in eight jobs in the county is agriculture related.
Richie says it is estimated that Ontario is losing 350 acres of farmland every day and urged councillors to think about where we’ll be in five years as they make planning decisions. He says that farmers do not stand in the way of progress but that it is important to build smart. That means building up instead of out and around agricultural areas versus over them.
Deputy Mayor Paul Van Staveren agreed, noting that the province expects an influx of 500,000 people in the next decade, most of whom will settle along the 400/401 corridors. He says they will need places to live but that we also need to think about how we will feed them.
Richie says we are lucky in Simcoe County to have the ideal mix of weather, soil and people for a healthy agriculture sector.
Perfect water
The results of annual water testing by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks are in and all municipal drinking water systems operated by the Township of Clearview have received a perfect score. Physical facility inspections were conducted between October 5, 2022 and January 10, 2023 on systems on Buckingham Woods, Colling- Woodlands, New Lowell, Creemore, Nottawa and Stayner. The inspections focus on source, treatment and distribution components along with water system management practices.
